Thanks

It's kind of hard to believe that at exactly this same time last week I was in surgery. There were a lot of unknowns floating around in my head and I was pretty scared. While I was hoping to wake up to some good news, I knew it was unlikely that I would hear anything until the results of the biopsy came back a few days later. Yet when I started to come to a couple of hours later, there was Carrie's smiling face telling me that the cyst was not what the doctor was expecting, instead of being intertwined with my thyroid, it was simply attached to it and was likely a rare condition called a branchial cleft cyst, something that he had only seen once before in over 900 thyroid operations. Branchial cleft cysts are basically a birth defect and are almost always benign.

I couldn't believe it. All of those worries about a quick second surgery to remove the rest of my thyroid and a dose of radiation were basically gone (they were completely gone when we got a call about the biopsy a couple of days later). I felt incredibly lucky. What made me feel even more lucky was the incredible outpouring of love and support I received from family, friends and friends of family. I'm not going to name names or call out specific examples, because I would likely leave someone out and I can honestly say that they were all so important to me I just can't let that happen.

I'm humbled … and honestly a little embarrassed. There are so many people out there dealing with so many bigger things than me and my thyroid that it just doesn't seem fair. We were reminded of this just a couple of hours after I got the results of my biopsy through an email from a very close friend asking for prayers for her 9 year-old nephew who has been battling cancer since he was five years old and was just informed about a new growth on his stomach and some spots on his lungs.

Talk about getting a dose of perspective.

So I guess in an attempt to pay it forward I would like to ask you send some positive thoughts out for this little boy and his family. (If you'd like to learn more about him click here.)

While you're at it, you might also send some good vibes out there for my aunt who will be undergoing surgery to remove a tumor recently uncovered in her spine.

I now know how much something like this means when you're scared and uncertain about the future.

Thanks again everybody.